A few years ago I ripped up a patch of lawn with the intention of turning it into garden. Success has been well…. uneven. I’ve actually given much of it over to a tangle of wild flowers, the most successful of which are the volunteer descendants of Brown-eyed Susan seeds I plucked from a roadside several years ago. Otherwise, things have not been worth writing home about. My corn grows to 16″ in height. I have had failed potato crops. Failed potato crops. Imagine.
(Yes, I grabbed a tire iron to stake some flowers. Deal with it.)
But this year, a turnaround. I have romaine and spinach on my plate every night, there is celery and purple, green and yellow beans that will be ready in about a week. The beets are actually growing, I may get carrots and I’ve had my first feed of baby red gourmet style potatoes.
The tomatoes will still be a while yet, but they’re healthy and flowering. There’s even hope for the corn.
And snap peas! Peas with edible pods.. who knew? I’m cooking more of them tonight. Delicious little things raw or steamed. Why would anybody grow the labour intensive inedible pod varieties at all?
This wasn’t so hard, after all. All it took was some rain and a bit of planning to take better advantage of sun exposure. My thumb may be showing a hint of green after all.
I’m hooked.
Next year, I’m planting chickens.
Nice little garden you have there. Is it me or do you have 12 different things growing in about 1 sq meter of planting space?
> Next year, I’m planting chickens.
Makes sense. After all, many folks think chickens are nothing more than feathered vegetables…
Yeah, stuff is pretty crowded together. Didn’t know if it was going to rain this year, and I found that close planting seems to keep the soil from drying out as badly.
And as far as the chickens, the garden center does sell bird seed, so, eh… I figured I may as well give it a try.
Turkeys!
Even lower IQ than chickens, some breed varietals actually have been outsmarted by blades of grass blowing around in the wind.
And they’re bigger, so they may intimidate your dogs a little, and they have a harder time running away.
In terms of pure aesthetics, either letting the area grow naturally or a massive beautification effort would both probably produce better results. Right now, it’s the worst of both worlds.
But then you get fresh veggies, and who am I to argue with that?